Baby Gray Whale Stuns Laguna Beachgoers

LAGUNA BEACH, CA — Laguna Beach visitors near the Montage Resort got a big surprise visit Tuesday from the baby gray whale seen in Dana Point earlier this week. The whale maneuvered the secluded coastline, almost going unnoticed by swimmers on Tuesday, according to reports from the scene.

“It was right in the kids' swim area, and it looked like it was going to get stuck,” Nathan Good, a 12-year-old from San Clemente told the OC Register. Good was on out on a whale watching trip with fellow junior guards aboard Capt. Dave’s Dolphin & Whale Watching Safari boat the Manute’a at the time of the sighting. “The captain sailed over and we got to see it. It was awesome. It was a baby and it was cute.”

The baby gray whale was estimated to be approximately 18 to 20 feet long, according to Captain Dave Anderson, of Captain Dave's Dolphin Safari. It is entirely possible that this is the same baby gray whale recently seen visiting Dana Point on Tuesday.

That gray whale, nicknamed "Carly," was seen days before in Carlsbad as it made a slow trek north along the California coastline.

This was a very rare encounter, according to Anderson.

"Gray whales are almost never seen in August off the coast of Southern California," he stated. "Their annual migration typically ends in May."

Gray whales journey each winter 6,000 miles from the cold seas of Alaska, where they spend the summer feeding, to the warm waters of Baja, California.

"There, in the protected lagoons, they mate and give birth," Anderson said. "Adult gray whales average about 45 feet in length and weigh 30 to 40 tons. In the late winter and early spring gray whales migrate another 6,000 miles back to their feeding grounds in the Chukchi and Bering Seas."

Captain Dave was operating a whale watching trip when he saw the gray whale in the harbor.

"The whale overall looks fairly healthy, but skinny, and appears to be underweight. It looks to be about 15 to 18 feet in length and heading up the coast," Anderson said of the encounter on his Youtube page. "The gray whale seems to be foraging for food in the harbor. Some gray whales, during their migration route, end up stopping along the way and some find enough food to survive."

Captain Dave's Dolphin and Whale Watching Safari offers daily, year-round, dolphin and whale watching trips from Dana Point, California, aboard a hi-tech catamaran sailboat with Eye-to-Eye Underwater Viewing Pods.Tel: (949) 488-2828

Web: http://www.dolphinsafari.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/CaptDavesWha...Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/captdaveswh...

Read Also: Baby Gray Whale Coaxed Back To Sea From Dana Point (PHOTOS)

Photos, youtube screencapture